Sorry if this is scatterbrained or convoluted. I am not the best at writing out my thoughts on this matter.
I am a 26 year old guy who has no experience. I mean none. Its been years since I have had a hug, never been on a date, always turned down and so on.
When I ask people for advice, they tend to be confused why I am asking for help, as most people dont understand a life of singleness, or they assume I have no problems. My dating life isnt something I am super open about. Why would I? Its not like I have anything remarkable to share. But when I do ask for help and receive help it usually comes down to these responses:
-Just wait and be patient, the right girl is out there. How long do I have to wait? I have been waiting my whole life. I have been told that I would be the star of homecoming when I was young. Then in later high school I was told that I would be snatched up quick in college. Now I am told to just wait and be patient and that the right girl will tie me down quickly.
-Work on yourself. Not sure what to do really. A lot of this advice makes blanket assumptions about me. I am told to work out, improve my style, make more money, and so on. The thing is, I have done all this. Outward looking, there isnt anything different between me and the next guy who can get dates.
-Put yourself out there. I do. I am pretty social. While I am on the introverted side, I do enjoy hanging out with friends and meeting people. Between social hobbies, religious groups, friends of friends and so on. I just rarely meet a girl who is actually single and who I am attracted to or interested in, and they are never interested in me in return.
-Try dating apps. I have never gotten a match. I have asked countless people for advice, and am constantly tweaking my profile. I don't even get likes. It doesn't matter where I am located, or what boosts/bonuses I pay for, I am simply invisible. And at this point, I have deleted all the apps for good.
-Perhaps you're not noticing the signs that girls are interested. I know that girls are more subtle in showing attraction or interest. There are, however, some obvious signs of attraction. Playing with hair, laughing at bad jokes, wanting to be around you, texting you and so on. I notice these quite often towards other guys, but never to myself.
All this advice is pretty common for me to get when I reach out for help. Between friends, family, people on reddit, and even therapists. I can almost predict what people will tell me. And to be honest, a lot of it makes sense. People generally believe in the just world fallacy so they assume that I am not doing something I should be, and that's why I am single. I can almost predict some of the replies this post will get. Including but not limited to: You're so young still. Many guys are in the same boat as you are. And, you're not alone.
Fair enough, and on a large enough scale, there are others out there like me. But let's be honest, as each year passes by, I am becoming a smaller and smaller minority. Most people have figured it out by this point. Maybe not to a full relationship, but at least to a date now and then. And have even had a girl who was into them. But as far as I am aware, I haven’t. Something hasn’t clicked with me and I don't know what.
And now, I will admit that I am fighting an uphill battle. I am not the most attractive guy out there, but I am not bad looking. It also takes a lot for me to be attracted to a girl (usually a close connection or less commonly, looks. I don't have a type, but there are girls out there who I am attracted to. It seems to be random). I am also religious and most girls in that demographic are married already. And I am super outdoorsy, which doesn’t have too much overlap with religious girls. Plus the concept of flirting goes over my head.
Given the above, I have done what I can to put myself in the best position possible to meet girls. I live in a religious area with a huge outdoor recreation aspect.
So, to prevent this from turning into a mindless ramble, I am tired of my situation and want to make some changes which will lead to results.
I am curious as to what you guys suggest I do.
Thanks.

Sorry if this is scatterbrained or convoluted. I am not the best at writing out my thoughts on this matter.
I am a 26 year old guy who has no experience. I mean none. Its been years since I have had a hug, never been on a date, always turned down and so on.
When I ask people for advice, they tend to be confused why I am asking for help, as most people dont understand a life of singleness, or they assume I have no problems. My dating life isnt something I am super open about. Why would I? Its not like I have anything remarkable to share. But when I do ask for help and receive help it usually comes down to these responses:
-Just wait and be patient, the right girl is out there. How long do I have to wait? I have been waiting my whole life. I have been told that I would be the star of homecoming when I was young. Then in later high school I was told that I would be snatched up quick in college. Now I am told to just wait and be patient and that the right girl will tie me down quickly.
-Work on yourself. Not sure what to do really. A lot of this advice makes blanket assumptions about me. I am told to work out, improve my style, make more money, and so on. The thing is, I have done all this. Outward looking, there isnt anything different between me and the next guy who can get dates.
-Put yourself out there. I do. I am pretty social. While I am on the introverted side, I do enjoy hanging out with friends and meeting people. Between social hobbies, religious groups, friends of friends and so on. I just rarely meet a girl who is actually single and who I am attracted to or interested in, and they are never interested in me in return.
-Try dating apps. I have never gotten a match. I have asked countless people for advice, and am constantly tweaking my profile. I don't even get likes. It doesn't matter where I am located, or what boosts/bonuses I pay for, I am simply invisible. And at this point, I have deleted all the apps for good.
-Perhaps you're not noticing the signs that girls are interested. I know that girls are more subtle in showing attraction or interest. There are, however, some obvious signs of attraction. Playing with hair, laughing at bad jokes, wanting to be around you, texting you and so on. I notice these quite often towards other guys, but never to myself.
All this advice is pretty common for me to get when I reach out for help. Between friends, family, people on reddit, and even therapists. I can almost predict what people will tell me. And to be honest, a lot of it makes sense. People generally believe in the just world fallacy so they assume that I am not doing something I should be, and that's why I am single. I can almost predict some of the replies this post will get. Including but not limited to: You're so young still. Many guys are in the same boat as you are. And, you're not alone.
Fair enough, and on a large enough scale, there are others out there like me. But let's be honest, as each year passes by, I am becoming a smaller and smaller minority. Most people have figured it out by this point. Maybe not to a full relationship, but at least to a date now and then. And have even had a girl who was into them. But as far as I am aware, I haven’t. Something hasn’t clicked with me and I don't know what.
And now, I will admit that I am fighting an uphill battle. I am not the most attractive guy out there, but I am not bad looking. It also takes a lot for me to be attracted to a girl (usually a close connection or less commonly, looks. I don't have a type, but there are girls out there who I am attracted to. It seems to be random). I am also religious and most girls in that demographic are married already. And I am super outdoorsy, which doesn’t have too much overlap with religious girls. Plus the concept of flirting goes over my head.
Given the above, I have done what I can to put myself in the best position possible to meet girls. I live in a religious area with a huge outdoor recreation aspect.
So, to prevent this from turning into a mindless ramble, I am tired of my situation and want to make some changes which will lead to results.
I am curious as to what you guys suggest I do.
Thanks.

Welcome to the HYPE THREAD, a place to share your excitement about in-game achievements, brag about success, and get hyped for upcoming events. CAPS LOCK IS OPTIONAL IF IT HELPS YOU GET YOUR HYPE ON!
This is a chance to post about your successes. Our rules against self-promotion and most low-quality content, including shiny Pokemon pics, are relaxed in these threads--please talk all you like about your luck and accomplishments!
This thread is meant to be pretty positive, so please think twice before downvoting someone! Rude and negative comments will be removed -- please report them if you see them :D
This thread is also the place to earn /pokemon's prestige flair for completing various aspects of the games. To claim your flair, post proof of your accomplishment in the comments below. Please note that flairs are assigned once weekly, so it may take up to seven days for your flair to appear.
On mobile and the reddit redesign ("new reddit"), you may have up to 10 flairs at once. On old reddit, you can only display one flair—so if you care which that is, please specify that in your comment!
Flair is currently available for:

Paldea Prestige Flairs

• Rotom Phone: Post a screenshot of your completed Paldea dex
• Animated Rotom Phones: Post an album of your completed Paldea living dex
• Booster Energy: Post a screenshot of all obtainable Paradox Pokémon
• Uva/Naranja Crest: Post a screenshot proving you finished all classes in the academy
• Tera Orb: Post an album proving you obtained one species in every Tera type
• Tiny Bamboo Shoot: Post a screenshot of the NPC saying you obtained the smallest size of a species possible*
• Big Bamboo Shoot: Post a screenshot of the NPC saying you obtained the largest size of a species possible*

* The NPC Pokemon size checker is in Mesagoza! See here

Galar Prestige Flairs

• Catching Charm: Post a screenshot of your completed Galar Regional Dex.
• Curry Mark: Post a screenshot of your completed Curry Dex.
• Master Ball: Post a screenshot of your Master Ball Tier in Battle Tower.
• Berry Sweet: Post a screenshot of your completed Alcremie form collection. `(Minus Ribbon and Star)
  • Star Sweet: Post a screenshot of your completed Alcremie form collection with Ribbon and Star sweets.
• Gigantamax Factor: Post an album of your collection of all 31 G-Max mon (excluding form variations). Be sure to show the summary screens indicating that they are G-Maxable!
• Armorite: Post a screenshot of you in the Masterly Mustard Tee after winning every type of Restricted Sparring on the Isle of Armor.
• Dynite: Post an album of your collection of all 47 Dynamax Adventure bosses. Be sure to show the summary screens indicating that they were caught in Galar!

Alola Prestige Flairs

• Rotom Dex: Post a screenshot of your completed Alola Regional Dex.
• Tapu Bulu: Post a screenshot of your Level 100+ Festival Plaza.
• Tapu Fini: Post a screenshot of your 50+ streak in the Battle Tree.
• Tapu Lele: Post a screenshot of all five of your Poké Pelago islands at max level (level 3).

General Prestige Flairs

• Oval Charm: Post an album of your completed Living Dex. (Mythicals aren't necessary!)
• (Shiny Charm: Post 45+ self-caught or self-bred shinies to /ShinyPokemon.)

LET'S GET HYPED!!!!

70's Alt Rock -King Crimson-Lark's Tongue In Aspic
80's Alt Rock - Talking Heads-Remain In Light
90's Alt Rock- Nirvana- Never mind
2000's Alt Rock-The Strokes-Is This It
2010's Alt Rock Tame Impala-Lonerism
Alt Country -Wilco-Summerteeth
Alt Hip Hop-MF Doom- Mad villainy
Art Rock-Dark Side Of The Moon-Pink Floyd
Brit Rock- The Clash- London Calling
College Rock-REM-Murmur
Emo Rock-My Chemical Romance-Welcome To The Black Parade
Experimental Rock-Swans-To Be Kind
Goth-The Cure Disintegration
Grunge- Soundgarden-Superunknown
Hardcore Punk- Black Flag- Damaged
Heavy Metal-Black Sabbath-Paranoid
60's Hard Rock-Led Zeppelin I
70's Hard rock-Led Zeppelin-Physical Graffiti
80's Hard Rock- AC/DC-Back In Black
90's Hard Rock-Nirvana-In Utero
2000's Hard Rock-Queens Of The Stone Age-Songs For The Deaf
2010's ˙Hard Rock- Tool-Fear Inoculum
Indie Rock-Joy Division-Unknown Pleasures
Indie Folk-Big Thief-Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
Lo-Fi-Neutral Milk Hotel-In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
New Wave-Elvis Costello-This Year's Model
Progressive Rock- Tool- Lateralus
Punk- Ramones-Rocket To Russia
pop punk-Green Day-Dookie
Post Punk- Wire- Pink Flag
Shoegaze-My Bloody Valentine-Loveless
Blues-Nina Simone-Sings The Blues
Blues Rock-The Rolling Stones-Sticky Fingers
Avant Garde- Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band-Trout Mask Replica
Baroque Pop-The Beach Boys-Pet Sounds
Symphonic Rock-Moody Blues-Days Of Future Past
Comedy/Novelty album-Adam Sandler-They're All Gonna Laugh At You
Stand Up Comedy-George Carlin-Back In Town
Americana-The Band-The Band
Bakersfield Sound-Buck Owens-Best Of Buck Owens
Bluegrass-Old & In The Way-That High Lonesome Sound
Outlaw Country-Willie Nelson-Redheaded Stranger
Classic Country-Johnny Cash-Live At Folsom Prison
Country Rock- The Flying Burrito Brothers-The Gilded Palace Of Sin
Dance/Club-LCD Soundsystem- This Is Happening
Christmas /Holiday Album-Vince Gauralidi-A Charlie Brown Christmas
EMD/Techno-Burial-Untrue
Ambient-Brian Eno-Music For Airports
Electronic Rock-Radiohead-Kid A
Space Rock- Spiritualized- Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Synthpop-Depeche Mode-Violator
Synthrock- New Order-Power, Corruption and Lies
Industrial-Nine Inch Nails-The Downward Spiral
Krautrock- Can-Tago Mago
Folk-Bob Dylan-The Freewillin' Bob Dylan
Folk Rock-Bob Dylan-Blood On The Tracks
Southern Rock-The Allman Brothers Band-At Fillmore East
80's Hip Hop-The Beastie Boys-Paul's Boutique
90's- Hip Hop Wu-Tang Clan-Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
2000's Hip Hop-Outkast- Stankonia
2010's Hip Hop-Kendrick Lamar-To Pimp A Butterfly
2020's Hip Hop-Run The Jewels-RTJ 4
East Coast Hip Hop- Nas- Illmatic
West Coast Hip Hop-NWA-Straight Outta Compton
Southern Hip Hop-Outkast -Aquemini
Midwest Album-Kanye West-My Dark Twisted Fantasy
Trap-Travis Sott-Rodeo
Instrumental Hip Hop- DJ Shadow- Endtroducing....
Indie Pop-Belle And Sebastian-If You're Feeling Sinister
Noise Rock-Sonic Youth-Daydream Nation
Post-rock- Godspeed! You Black Emperor-Lift Your Skinny Fist Like Antennas To Heaven
Acid Jazz- Medeski ,Martin, and Wood -Shack-Man
Trip Hop -Portishead- Dummy
Gospel -Aretha Franklin-Amazing Grace
Christian- Sufjan Stevens -Illnoise
Jazz-Miles Davis-Kind Of Blue
Avant Garde Jazz-Ornette Coleman-Shape To Jazz To Come
Swing/Bebop-Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers-Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers w/Thelonious Monk
Jazz/Fusion-Miles Davis-In A Silent Way
Jazz Rock-Miles Davis-Bitches Brew
Jazz/Funk-Herbie Hancock-Head Hunters
Jazz/Rap-A tribe Called Quest-The Low End Theory
Latin- Los Lobos-Kiko
Speed Metal/Thrash- Metallica- Master Of Puppets
Black/Death Metal-Deafheaven-Sunbather
Symphonic Metal-Haken-The Mountain
Glam Rock -T.Rex-Electric Warrior
Hair Metal-Guns N Roses-Appetite For Destruction
New Wave Of British Heavy Metal-Iron Maiden- Number Of The Beast
Sludge-Electric Wizard- Dopethron
Nu Metal-Korn-Korn
New Age-Popol Vuh - Hosianna Mantra
Pop-Prince-Sign O' The Times
60's Pop- The Beatles-Revolver
70's Pop- Carole King-Tapestry
80's Pop- Peter Gabriel-So
90's Pop-Madonna-Ray Of Light
2000's Pop-Madonna-Confessions On A Dance Floor
2010's pop-Robyn-Body Talk
2020's Pop- Perfume Genius-Set My Heart On Fire
Adult Contemporary- Billy Joel-The Stranger
Europop- ABBA- Arrival
Latin Pop-Ruben Y Seis Del Solar-Buscando America
Dance Pop-Dee-Lite-World Clique
Dream Pop- Mazzy Star-So Tonight I Might See
Power Pop- Weezer-Blue Album
R&B- Marvin Gaye-What's Going On
60's R&B-Aretha Franklin-I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You
70's R&B- Stevie Wonder- Songs In The Key Of Life
80's R&B- Janet Jackson- Control
90's R&B Album- Lauryn Hill-The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
2000's R&B- D'Angelo-Voodoo
2010's-R&B-Beyonce-Lemonade
2020's R&B- SZA-SOS
Disco-Donna Summers-Bad Girls
Doo Wop- The Chantels- We Are The Chantels
Funk-Funkadelic-Maggot Brain
Motown- Marvin Gaye-Let's Get It On
Neo-Soul-Erykah Badu-Baduizm
Psychedelic Soul- Curtis Mayfield-Curtis
Soul-Aretha Franklin-Lady Soul
Reggae-Bob Marley- Exodus
Ska-The Specials-The Specials
Swing Revival-Big Bad Voodoo Daddy-Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Rock N Roll-The Rolling Stones-Exile On Main Street
Acid Rock- Jimi Hendrix- Are You Experienced
Arena Rock-Boston-Boston
Cock Rock-Van Halen I
Math Rock-Slint-Spiderland
Stoner Rock-Kyuss-Welcome To Sky Valley
Jam Band- Grateful Dead-American Beauty
SingeSongwriter- Neil Young-Harvest
Surf Rock-The Beach Boys-Shut Down Vol II
Soft Rock/Yacht Rock-Steely Dan-Aja
Movie Soundtrack-Singles
Movie Score-The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
TV Soundtrack- Songs In The Key Of X:Music from and inspired by the X-Files
Musical Soundtrack-Jesus Christ Superstar

When I was in junior high a transfer student arrived in the middle of the semester; a kid that was different from everyone else. Right away he had caught my eye, in fact he caught everyone's attention because he had a very unique disability; he couldn’t speak. I guess you could say he was deaf, though it was clear to me after getting to know him that he could in fact hear; every word spoken to him was understood with simple nods or gestures; facial expressions contorting into understood language; so I guess he was mute; yeah, that would describe him best. He was an oddity to most but to me he was a unicorn, something that sparkled in our dim monotonous lives and it wasn’t until he revealed who he was did I become terrified of him and his shine.
I was in 7th grade maneuvering my way through the jungle of middle school, avoiding trouble and premature violence. I was an undersized boy for my age, no more than 5ft tall; puberty had yet to visit me leaving me left out of the herd; the other students or the ‘sheep’ as I called them that infested my school. They were all the same, kids that were driven by hormones constantly talking about boys or girls, their deep voices riding on the coattails of the wind that breezed in and out of our hallways. I was a mere shadow, always walking a few paces behind the others not wanting to be seen or acknowledged; I saw what others that looked like me went through, they were tortured and abused for simply existing.
Once Bryce Ellis and his friends stuck Timmy Easton’s face in the shitter for over 10 flushes, I was in a stall over, hiding and waiting for the torment to be over. I slithered my feet up on to the stall caressing them to my chest as I sat in a fetal position horrified of how one human could treat another. Eventually the bullies had gotten bored, their short attention span driven minds directed them to another endeavor leaving Timmy to fester in his tears and possible filth.
He sobbed for minutes that felt like hours as I remained silent in the stall over, I placed my hand cautiously on the barrier wall trying to absorb a bit of his pain, my heart ached for him in that moment and I wanted to lend him a compassionate hand if only I had the courage to do so. So yeah, I did my best to stay hidden, unseen to all the dwellers that mindlessly walked in and out of our school on a daily basis, the boys that believed themselves to be men or the girls that pontificated to anyone that listened. I was lost into an enteral sea of vindictive young adults that searched for any reason to lash out at anyone that stood in their way.
So when ‘Tape boy’ — as they would eventually call him — came to my little middle school that stood still in the secluded hills of our small town I was enthralled almost immediately with his existence. He was introduced to my home room class, I sat in the back burying my head into my arms, occasionally lifting my head to listen on the days lecture. My day dreams entertaining me as the clock slowly ticked away at our lives and it wasn’t until my teacher promptly stopped talking did it trigger a primal emotion in me to sit up and pay attention. I postured myself up straight, pausing the internal movie that played in my mind to see what the interruption was about.
There he was, a new boy that no one had ever seen before, by middle school everyone knew each other; we had went to the same elementary school, the same holiday events and grocery stores. So getting a new student was like getting a new flavor at Baskin Robbins; a mystery taste simmering on the tip of your tongue as you digested every drop, his presence was intriguing. He wasn’t small like me, I would say average height for a 12 year old; about 5'4, slender body with unkempt dark black hair. He looked timid, his head tilted towards the ground not wanting to accidentally lock eyes with any of us as the teacher introduced him, my mind wandering with such intrigue because to all of our astonishment he was wearing a surgical face mask — mind you this was in the 90’s; eons before the Covid pandemic breached the windows of our thoughts.
Right away I could hear the murmurs, the questions erupting throughout the classroom as everyone pondered of why this boy sheltered his face. I stared on for what must of been minutes as the shy boy kept his gaze down, I could see him slightly squeezing the arm straps to his backpack nervously the longer he stood there on full display for all.
I had my fill and I relaxed my postured sinking back into my chair directing my stare out the window but then Billy Sherman asked the question we all had on our minds,
“Uhm, why is he wearing that mask?”.
Our teacher explained to us that it was because of some weaken immune system, something about how his ticker didn’t click like the rest of ours, she then also told us about him being mute. This drew my eyes right back to him, I think it did for all of us and for a moment the quiet kid raised his head and locked eyes with me. His dark black eyes glistened with despair, the deep purple bags that sagged under his eyes were more indicative of someone that hadn’t slept in days. I felt something for him in that moment, our third eye conversing in some cosmic dialogue and as quickly as he rose his head did it drop once again towards the ground. I could still hear all the the other kids snickering, questioning and some even giggling; it made me sick, if I was a braver boy I would of stood on top of my desk and verbally lashed out to all the sheep, instead I rose my hand asking something Mrs. Willis never said, what was the timid boys name?
“Oh I’m sorry, how rude of me, this is Gabriel”.
She sat Gabriel upfront next to her desk, wanting him close in case he needed to write or sign something to her and just like that everyone went back to their simple lives; including myself.
The next few weeks I saw little of Gabriel other than the back of his head during class, once the bell rang everyone that my eyes glimpsed at for the day disappeared or just maybe it was me who dissolved into the ambience of our school. Either way I saw little of the boy who wore a mask, the one that sheltered his true identity and my curiosity with the new flavor of the week gradually faded into the abyss of non-existence; well, that was until the day I saw the mask slip.
It was end of the day, I spent most of the time turning corners anytime Bryce Ellis approached; evading the wrath of him and his band of merry men who were the pinnacle of human torture; finding any opportunity to demean those who crossed their path. I remember leaving Chemistry class, my mind all to occupied with leaving the hell hole of every kids dread and that’s when I saw Gabriel walking down the hall towards the cafeteria; his head still tilted down; his gaze tracking every step he took; face mask still tightly fitted around his face.
This time I saw someone was following him, it was Tom Ingram one of Bryce’s guys, a kid that tried to be the “alpha male” of the group numerous times, doing his best to dethrone the reign of Bryce. He was a big boy for his age, probably about 5'9 and easily weighed 200 pounds, he was a wild card alright; he got caught pouring sugar down Mr. Whitakers old Pontiac gas tank for giving him a poor grade. So when I saw him berating poor Gabriel; taunting him as grotesque laughter followed every insult, I felt like I had to do something and my consistent stealth veneer of camouflage morphed into into a full on sprint towards the two. I saw Tom was closing in on him, other kids looking on with bewilderment on their faces — not knowing if they should laugh out of fear or grimace from disgust. For the first time in a long while did a burning sensation of courage ignite in my soul, I was tired of seeing monsters preying on the sheep and I was going to stop it somehow.
Finally Gabriel had stopped walking and stood still, his head hanging even lower than before, the strands of his long hair covered the remainder of his face. Tom began slapping the top side of the poor kids head, yelling out obscenities, angered that he didn’t stop sooner. I was close, I was gonna stop this since all anyone else could do is cower in fear while looking on and then it happened causing me to stop dead in my tracks, my eyes widening with befuddlement. Tom had torn away the mask from Gabriel's face, awes with groans came from everyone then silence blanketed the entire school and for those few seconds our existence had been swallowed up by the earth itself.
“What the hell” Tom yelped out breaking the still but heavy disquietude.
I wanted to say something, but no words could be manifested only gurgles as I choked on my own disbelief. The timid boy under the mask of intrigue had a strip of black duct tape covering his mouth, it stretching from the side of his face to the other almost resembling what would be some hideous smile. The timid boy then collapsed his hands over his face as faint muffles of sobbing protruded from him, he ran into the nearest restroom only for Tom to pursue. Finally my thoughts had been gathered while my body came back to life, I brushed off the bizarre occurrence of that grizzly smile and I reminded myself of what was about to happen. Tom was going to punish Gabriel for simply existing as he and his gang have been doing for years and like some old factory machine the cogs of my body set into motion as I ran towards the restroom.
Before I could open the door the most horrid scream exploded outwards into the hallway, the sound sending a cold shiver down my spine and Tom came running out of the restroom gripping at his face crying. He was hysterical running and bumping into the walls until finally crumbling onto the floor only to continue sobbing. My mind was clouded with a whirl wind of confusion, I no longer knew what to do, I mean I was going to run in there and stop the assault but now the assaulter was on the floor destroyed. Then Gabriel calmly came out of the restroom, his mask firmly back on and he turned to look at me, his dark eyes burning an image of anguish into my mind. I asked if he was okay of course he said nothing though, he didn’t need to I could just sense his response and it was one of gratitude. I almost could see him smiling at me from underneath the mask and I reminded myself of what was under it; that abysmal duct tape that looked like a sinister grin.
From that day on most of the kids were afraid of Gabriel, I could see the look of terror in their eyes anytime he passed by them even though his headed was still shifted downwards but that’s the day whenever someone mentioned him they referred to him as “Tape boy”. I had heard through the whispers of our school that Tom had suffered some mental breakdown, that the doctors couldn’t find anything psychically wrong with him, it was as if his mind had shattered. He remained in some mental hospital, memories of him gradually fading and the sheep went on with living their mundane lives. Bryce even slowed his bullying, I think he knew that their were now more eyes watching everyone after the altercation and he didn’t want to get caught in some bad situation, though I could see he was itching to get at Gabriel. I went back to being a shadow, avoiding all the others still not too confident that the days of torture were over.
Even though Gabriel was regarded as some magical or perhaps malevolent being by most; not sure which one; he still appeared to be sad; lonely, his head always dragging with despondency. I made an effort in getting to know him, I wasn’t afraid like the rest of them something about the day we locked eyes gave me the resolve to understand he wouldn’t hurt me. I approached him during lunch break, he was outside sitting underneath a tree, the shade showering him a gloom of haze. I think I surprised him or maybe it was just my stealth nature but I saw him jump when I sat next to him. I began talking about the origins of Darth Vader, of how he was originally a hero using his force power for good only to eventually turn to the dark side.
Gabriel just looked at me confounded of why I was even talking to him, his stare looking on with indifference. I told him that he was like a super hero, doing whatever he did to Tom was just like a super power, that I was thankful. His gazed then returned back to the floor almost out of shame, I guess whatever he did that day he didn’t see it as something special, or something to praise. I then told him that I still envied his ability to defend himself, that having such an ability was better than winning the school lottery — which was a week supply of free cafeteria food. I kept blabbering on for the remainder of the break while he still postured his stare towards the floor until the bell had finally rung. Before getting up I told him that if I could have a super power mine would be invisibility that’s when he turned to me pulling out a small spiral from his back pack writing something down, he then showed me.
“Why?” it read.
I told him that I didn’t like being seen, that if I could I would melt away into the noise, then life would be better he just stared at me with what I could assume was disbelief. He didn’t write anything back, he just remain seated while I stood to my feet. I asked if he was coming back to class but he ignored me and just stared out into space presumably lost in his own thoughts.
For the next several months I would catch Gabriel in the hallways, talk to him about the latest edition of whatever comic I was reading, Superman being my favorite and I would go on and on about how his true super power wasn’t strength but hope. I think he became more comfortable with me, pulling out his spiral notebook to write down his thoughts; his questions and answers — a new gateway of communication had formed between us. Most times I could tell what he was going to write by looking at his eyes, those dark haunting eyes, he was a mysterious book slowly being revealed to me and I was completely beguiled by his friendship. Bryce and his little posse slowly went back to bullying the sheep, though they kept their distance from Gabriel and me.
I guess I had a new protector one that wouldn’t be crossed and something about that protection left me feeling proud. I knew in my heart that the timid kid that now went by “Tape boy” wouldn’t hurt a fly that maybe the day of Tom going crazy was all by chance, perhaps his rage snapped his mind. I tried asking him about that day numerous times but he never explained what happened he would redirect the conversation back to super hero’s. I would walk home with him on certain days, well, more like he would walk me home I never got to see where he lived, he was too reserved to give up that kind of information but the days we would walk together was always fun. I finally felt like I belonged, the longing emotion of needing acceptance was found by his friendship.
One day when I was walking home by myself I decided to stop in at the gas station to pick up a drink and scour the latest edition of comic books in the small rack of magazines. Before entering the store I could hear arguing voices engaging in combative dialogue and it became vividly clear that it was more of a yelling match than conversation. It was coming from the side of the building, most times I would just ignore it but one of the voices sounded all too familiar and I crept slowly to the edge of the building poking my head out to get a glimpse of the disturbance. It was Bryce, his back was up against the wall while someone who I presumed was his father berated him with such a vicious snarl on his face. The angry man kept slapping Bryce across the face anytime he tried to say something and soon tears began drizzling off the face of the mighty bully only for the man to laugh.
I didn’t know why the older man was treating Bryce the way he was, information cut out of my understanding, for all I know it could of been because of something the bully did at school. I found it to be poetic justice that the boy that caused so much heart ache suffered the same amount only at home. It felt like a cliche, the angry kid was angry because of the angry father; a cruel loop of never ending proportions. Eventually the man or father walked away getting back into his car leaving the bully to brush away the tears from his face. I cautiously retreated my head away deciding to ditch the store completely when that same broken voice only minutes ago shouted out to me with a hefty dominance.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Bryce howled out.
I didn’t bother turning around, I just ran home, dodging into alley ways trying my best to not been seen. It didn’t appear as if he was following, but seeing him in such a vulnerable state was bemusing. We were a small town how could I not know who the man was, we all knew each other since we were small and then it hit me; Bryce’s dad had left when he was little. This man must of been his step dad or perhaps mom’s boyfriend, it didn’t matter I was going to mind my own business, I was going to slither back into the shadows; but my attempts would only fall on defeated shoulders.
I didn’t want to tell anyone of what I saw, I hoped that keeping my mouth shut would of been enough for the bully to leave me be. Unfortunately there is no reasoning when it comes to human beings, we base our actions on emotions, our anger and Bryce confronted me the next morning in front of Gabriel.
“Hey fairy, did you enjoy the show?” the angry kid spouted out at me.
I tried explaining to him that I wasn’t trying to intrude, that the arguing concerned me, that I didn’t like seeing him being mistreated and then he punched me right in the gut. I fell to the floor gripping at my stomach, the pain slicing through every fiber of my body. I tried catching my breath but inhaling was too painful and I sheltered my face expecting another punch but the bully walked off leaving me to sweat. Gabriel kneel down to me taking out his spiral notebook writing the obvious question, I gestured to him to give me a moment and I honestly felt like crying. I had spent years doing my best to blend into the background, the invisibility power I was so desperate to have amongst the sheep was now gone; I was on Bryce’s radar.
For the remainder of the school year I tried avoiding the bullies, the monsters that preyed on the sheep but their leader would actively search for me, he was no longer intimidated by Gabriel; his once menacing allure had dwindled and now we both were sitting ducks. Luckily there was only a few weeks left until summer break and I only had hoped that the time off would be enough for the monster of monsters to cool off.
Entering summer was a relief much needed for my sanity, I took a few thrashings but it was over, me and Gabriel had big plans on spending time together. He wasn’t an out door kind of kid, he usually would just come over my place and we would read my comic books. He quickly grew enchanted with the idea of super hero's, their powers restoring balance to the nature of our world. I enjoyed every minute of it, my parents on the other hand looked less jovial to our friendship, they didn’t like the mask; it worried them. They thought that whatever illness he had could be passed on to me, but they didn’t do anything to stop us from seeing each other, they only silently protested.
So after awhile we decided to meet somewhere outdoors, away from my parents judgmental stares, there was a creek close to my house, the trees giving us enough shade to stay cool on those long summer days. The small stream that flowed through the trenches of the creek enriched our view as we would find the perfect rock to perch on while reading our comics. We didn’t see much of any of the other classmates that summer, the sheep kept their distance or maybe it was just us, but the days seem to pass quickly and before we knew it summer was coming to an end. I couldn’t remember how many volumes we must of read but Gabriel was now a fan of almost every super hero. He tend to raise out his arms while walking, mimicking the premise of flying like Superman; his ponderous eyes cutting through the brush as we escaped our secluded summer spot.
It was on the final day of our summer break did I pressure the shy timid boy to explain to me what had happen that day, the day Tom lost his marbles, I needed to know. Gabriel as always tried redirecting the conversation, holding up a comic of Batman, pointing at some dialogue. I got upset, I raised my voice telling him that if we were friends then he should tell me, that there wasn’t secrets between us. His heavy eyes collapsing to the ground, shifting his posture on the rock that we both sat on.
“Look, I just need to know, you’re my best friend” I told him with genuine longing.
The school year was about to start up again and I could already envision a future of slithering through the hallways how I have always done, but with Gabriel maybe that could change. I needed to know and I was done guessing, fantasizing that he was some super hero or at least my hero; my protector. I stood up off the rock walking over to the stream, the sound of water colliding unto the small stones that infested the trench triggered something awful in my gut. I took a deep breath and made my final stand with my best friend.
“If you don’t want to tell me then I’m going home, see ya” I said with impatience dripping off of my words.
Gabriel ignored my warning and continued pointing at the comic book, that’s when I noticed what he was pointing at, it wasn’t dialogue it was one of Batman's villains — he was pointing at Clayface. This made me stop, my minding halting after speeding at 100 miles per hour; it crashing my thoughts.
“Yeah, what about Clayface?” I curiously asked with a withered and tired voice.
That’s when his pointer finger was no longer on the page but rather it was pointed towards his mouth; the mouth that was hidden behind his mask. He could see my face drop with sadness, whatever disfigurement he had underneath that horrid black duct tape must of been something like the villain from the comic and my heart broke for him. Gabriel’s eyes gleaming with absolute sorrow, the boy that only wanted to be left alone, the person all the others feared just wanted solitude and here I was badgering him to no end about something so insignificant. We stared at each other for several seconds, our eyes meeting in some altered state and I reached my hand up to his face tenderly taking off his mask. There it was, the black duct tape that resembled a grin, a nightmarish one that could only been seen in some horror movie. I then placed my fingers on the edge of the tape, my cold grip causing him to shiver and I slowly began to remove it.
“What the hell are you fairy’s doing?” a voice called out from the brush, one that sank my heart into my stomach.
I turned trying to locate the voice and sure enough there he was, the bully that had tortured so many for so many years — it was Bryce. His body slowly revealing itself from the brush like some despicable ooze frothing from the depths of hell. Though, something about him was different, his cold stare no longer fictitious but more intimidating and as his body fully emerged did I see the blood trickling down his soaked stain shirt. He was covered in the crimson fluid, there was even some on his cheeks almost as he had some open wound and smeared the remnants of it on his face. The devilish grin that bestowed his bruised and beaten face quickly led me to a conclusion; one that I wish I didn’t conclude. A purplish black infested the out layer of his left eye, it practically closed shut and his nose had been bent to a unsightly angle. I started to whimper as my lips trembled from fright because this Bryce was not the same one that had given us wedgies or swirlies this one was a true monster, a beast that devoured souls. His gaze was enough to display a vacancy of any humanity and my eyes crawled down his arm into his hand to see the black pistol that he firmly gripped.
“Uh, Bryce what happened? Are you okay?” I groaned out while sniffling.
He didn’t answer, he just kept grinning at me, the ghastly smile that stretched ear from ear plagued my vision and I knew that he had done it, that he had hurt someone badly. I was terrified and in the moment I had completely forgotten about Gabriel, my tunnel vision only focused on that firearm.
“Where the hell did the other one go?” the monster asked, I turned and realized Gabriel in fact had run away leaving me behind.
I wanted to run, I wanted to flee while screaming but horror kept me in place and I felt like some dear trapped in headlights contemplating my entire life in mere seconds.
“Everyone always messes with me!” Bryce yelled out with such ferociousness.
There was no talking my way out of this one, no pleading, I knew in that moment he was going to kill me; his rage over flowing to the point of lunacy. He quickly pounced dropping me to the floor, screaming with madness and he repeatedly hit me over the head with the but of the gun causing me to see stars. His words became incoherent sounding like muffled tones that slushed it’s way into my hearing, I shook my head trying to collect myself, just maybe I could figure a way out of this but as soon as my vision corrected itself Bryce would strike me another time causing it to blur once again. I fell into a darkness, my world collapsing into an eternal void of loneliness as my body began to float effortlessly but as soon as I thought this was my final moments flashes of Gabriel flooded into my mind awakening me out of whatever slumber I found myself in. That’s when I realized Bryce was no longer hitting me, instead he was talking to someone and as I grabbed at my head trying to steady my balance I saw it was Gabriel standing still head as always tilted downwards.
Bryce confronted him pointing his 9mm directly at his head yelling, screaming at the top of his lungs but my best friend remained unmoved, just quiet and then he slowly removed his mask. This caused Bryce to pause, his tone weaken and I think for the first time he digested if he should proceed doing what he was doing.
“What are you doing freak?” the bully yelped out.
Gabriel remained quiet, eyes still directed towards the floor, his breathing escalating; I could see his chest pump more vigorously with each passing second. With the mask off me and Bryce could see the bewildering black duct tape strapped to his face, Gabriel’s face began to tremble violently as if he was trying to yell through the bondage. He then finally began to peel of the thick layer of black duct tape and it came off with a wicked screech as I could see my friends eyes squint with pain.
Bryce was no longer pointing the gun at Gabriel, no longer was he even saying a word his arm lowered to his side and both him and I stared on with amazement. What was under the tape was layers of skin, twisting and binding to each other like some thriving organism living it’s own life on Gabriel's face. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t say anything I was in shock and my head still throb from pain. Then Gabriel's mouth — if you want to call it that — began to stretch open, he tilted his head backwards while the mountain of dead flesh started to drip down his face allowing some endless void to open up inside of him. I could hear the cracking of bones breaking, his jaw shifting to accommodate the massive hole that was now his mouth and then horrid dwindling fingers began to protrude from the darkness.
My mouth gaped open with trepidation and if I had the ability to adjust my head I would think Bryce had the same facial expression. Then a grotesque head forced it’s way out of my friends mouth revealing a face that could only exist in the realms of the dead, this new creature having two large almond shape eyes; eyes that looked very similar to the ones that were attached to my friend. This ‘thing’ then stared at Bryce, that’s all it did, no words were spoken no violence was created it just stared at him and soon the bully grasped at his face and began to yell. He ran frantically in different directions, his gun firing out into the tree line, I jumped for cover; falling to the floor sheltering my head with my arms. Bryce’s terrified screams caused my stomach to turn and soon those dire cries stopped along with the gunshots.
I must of stayed on the floor for what felt like hours, too scared to rise to my feet and through my peripheral did I see the sun begin to set plunging the small creak into darkness. I eventually mustered up enough courage to get up and I looked around, Bryce was mere feet away from me, he lay still on the floor blood spewing out of his head; it appeared as if had shot himself. I walked over to his body befuddled of what to do I then remembered Gabriel, I turned to look for him but he was gone it was only me and Bryce's dead corpse. I ran home telling my parents about everything, of the encounter I experienced, at first it seemed as if they didn’t believe me but they still phoned for the police.
I led them to the creek to the bullies dead body, I initially thought perhaps they would blame me, connect me to his death but the police believed me; well the believed me about Bryce but not about Gabriel. They told me that Bryce had killed his step father, apparently they had gotten into some altercation and afterwards he went into his mothers bedroom and shot her to death. They told me that the once bully was a disturbed individual, suffering abuse for many years; that I was lucky to escape from his wrath. I told them that they needed to find my friend I wanted to know if he was okay, but all the officers could do was pat my back with sympathy trying to relax me.
It has almost been 30 years since the event, I still have nightmares of what had happened, I see the dead stare Bryce had while pointing his pistol at me, I see him repeatedly hitting me over the head again and again. Though, what still haunts me more is Gabriel's mouth contorting into that horrid shape revealing the creature that lived inside of him. He was never found, I’m pretty sure he moved on to another city, another place where bullies like Bryce tormented their schools and I could only imagine Gabriel was there to balance the wrongs of the world. I am scared of my best friend, but I know at the same time he is my protector; my super hero, he is out there doing good, I can feel it and I hope he can sense my love for him. Maybe we will never meet again, perhaps it’s not written in the stars for us to reunite but one thing is for sure, I get comic books mailed to me randomly every month; most are of Superman and I know exactly who they are from.

TREKMOVIE: "Last week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery, “Labyrinths,” featured an unusual location: the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto. Star Trek fan Michael Cassabon, the Director of Advancement for the University of Toronto library system, assisted the production team on site and wrote about his experiences with the show and what makes the Fisher Library so unique."
Michael P. Cassabon:
"Melissa Warry-Smith, the location manager for Star Trek: Discovery (and most recently Section 31), and her team approached the University of Toronto in summer 2022 with a very big ask: to boldly film where no one has filmed before. As Canada’s largest keeper of ancient manuscripts and antiquarian books, the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library holds powerful knowledge within its high, thick walls. It is a globally renowned rare book library, a gorgeous monument to human knowledge, but it is not known for being a filming location. Like, never.
But Warry-Smith’s thoughtful approach to the Fisher as the location for the Eternal Archive made a lot of sense. It wasn’t just that the Fisher’s brutalist architecture and vast interior space looked very sci-fi, but it also made sense because “Labyrinths” underlines the work of librarians and archivists in the preservation and pursuit of knowledge, intrinsic to the core values of Star Trek.
[...]
The Fisher is at the heart of the university’s main campus, which lies at the heart of the city of Toronto, one of the most diverse cities on the planet.
Modern-day Toronto is part of Trek canon (SNW: “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow”); for those of you keeping track, the library complex is a few blocks away from where the child Khan Noonien-Singh — the notorious ancestor of La’an — lives, and where an alt-universe Captain Kirk was killed trying to restore the timeline.
It is almost unheard of for filming to take place at the Fisher Library, but a rare exception was made for Star Trek: Discovery. Our library’s leadership believed that this collaboration would be a wonderful opportunity to showcase the enduring relevance of libraries in the human quest for meaning. Libraries connect people to the information they seek in their quest for knowledge. The executive producers dedicated the episode with thanks “to librarians everywhere, dedicated to the preservation of artifacts, knowledge, and truth.”
It was also important that the library was not just a pretty face in the background but was playing the role of a key “character” essential to uncover “the greatest power in the known galaxy,” as Dr. Kovich tells Michael way back in the season’s first episode. Kovich, of course, is played by the legendary David Cronenberg, an alum of the University of Toronto—it makes one wonder if he knew where the final clue was all along!
Filming at the Fisher occurred over three nights to avoid disrupting students and researchers. The production crew was remarkably efficient and respectful, especially given the tight schedule due to the impending medieval manuscript exhibition—our first in-person event since COVID-19. Every precaution was made to avoid putting the real-life ancient manuscripts in danger. The production crew was quite impressive in their respect and care. They had experience filming in sensitive locations in Toronto in the past; for example, scenes of Vulcan earlier in the season are filmed at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.
This isn’t the first time Star Trek has filmed at a library at the University of Toronto. U of T has a system of 40 libraries, and the Star Trek: Short Treks episode “Children of Mars”—the mini-prequel to Star Trek: Picard—was filmed at the library at U of T’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. [...]
The absolute highlight for me was meeting Sonequa Martin-Green. She is as amazing and magnetic and gracious as everyone says. After watching her interact with the cast and crew, it was clear how they became a family, largely due to her leadership on and off the camera. David Ajala introduced me to Sonequa in the green room, which was our library admin conference room across from my office. The first thing she said to me was “Thank you for lending me your name [Michael].” [...]
This season of Discovery focuses on the quest for meaning, and filming at the Fisher felt serendipitous. The library’s dedication to preserving and exploring knowledge through the application of new technology mirrors Star Trek’s themes of discovery and understanding. Fittingly, the University of Toronto is situated at the heart of the city’s Discovery District, an area renowned for its concentration of research institutions, hospitals, and tech startups dedicated to innovation and advancement. It is also appropriate that the filming took place in a university library, considering how many researchers, scholars, and leaders have been inspired to pursue their careers in part because of Star Trek."
Michael P. Cassabon is the Director of Advancement for the University of Toronto library system and a lifelong fan of Star Trek.
Link (TrekMovie):
https://trekmovie.com/2024/05/17/inside-how-star-trek-discovery-transformed-a-toronto-university-library-into-the-eternal-archive-for-labyrinths/

This will be a long one (Spoilers ahead incase you missed the spoiler marker
Story was amazing while I don’t think it beats fallen order it is definitely up for comparison. The betrayal of bode was unexpected and in fact I was worried the entire game because I heard that something happened to bode but never in my wildest dreams did I expect that. My favourite thing about the story is the fact that after the main objective to kill dagan gera is throws another storyline at you.
Cinematics were brilliant but I will say that the fact that it was jittery and would freeze is a pain but I manage to look past that.
I enjoy the fact that they dove into the separatists because that’s the one thing that never gets talked about after the downfall in revenge of the sith (it’s not like they just disappeared). I also rlly like how they brought back that one inquisitor (the 9th sister I believe) because as we see in the Star Wars universe if it shows someone falling to their death chances are they aren’t dead
The combat is the same as fallen order but to me personally that isn’t a bad thing. I highly rate the combat system is this series and It’s one of the best combat systems I’ve seen
I really do like the open world and yes that was in fallen order but Jedi survivor does a better job at making it seem that way. I really like the fact that you get to meet people on all the planets and then recruit them for the saloon and I really like how we can get bounty hunter missions from Caij and I like the fact that there are multiple shops from which you can buy extra cosmetics which is also another mechanic I enjoy. The customisation is way more in depth and allows us to truly customise cal to how we like it
To me personally I prefer this game over fallen order and would definitely play again. I don’t know about any other projects if they’ve been mentioned so if someone could tell me if there has that would be great. So yeah overall I rate this game a 10/10 as it’s a brilliant at immersing the player with the game and story

(Apologies for bad english, it's not my first Language)
I have been watching Pyro's content since 2016 and even though I liked the way he managed his channel back then, it has become a shell of it's former self. I think most of his community knows about this situation and I just wanted to add my small grain of sand into the heaping pile of rubbish that Pyro Live and Le Slop have formed.
Firstly, Pyro Live channel isn't "slop", it's fucking garbage. This term Pyro and his fans used to refer to the content the Second Channel produced carried the implication that it wasn't what Pyro wanted to do, rather what he had to do to pay bills and produce the larger and higher quality videos. This has now proven to be the contrary, since Pyro is producing around 5-7 Pyro Live videos a week that are of the poorest quality and talk about "This internet drama is insane" or "Insane Youtuber situation". These videos, coupled with the insane amount of donos pyro earns from his streams (1000 bucks to show his feet) are providing him with a steady flow of income, income Pyro is using to improve the Slop Live channel instead of the Main Channel,
An argument many will use to justify the "Slop Live" situation is the following: "Oh but Pyro NEEDS the money from the second channel to create 4 hour long videos like the Cruelty Squad one." Even if it is arguable that Pyro could actually afford to live from the main channel alone since he has his own merch, live events and is streaming on top of it (those 100$ donos might be a huge chunk of his income), I do believe that 95% of Pyro's fanbase would be happier if he posted shorter and higher quality videos in the Main Channel (Like the Iron Lung or Petscop ones) since this would actually free up Pyro's schedule in order to be able to release more videos. But no, Pyro has to do the 5 hour video on Cruelty Squad and fill it with unnecessary jokes and filler. He HAS to make a Lethal Company video instead of the Darkwood one because he needs to capitalize on that sweet sweet money that comes from talking about viral games. He needs the money that comes from monetizing every single video with worthless products.
I think this is kind of the point of this post. Pyro has been prioritizing money over everything else and it is becoming annoying. His live videos are up to the brim with unnecessary tangents and conversations that Pyro artificially generates out of thin air in order to reach the 8 minute mark. His reactions to donos are extremely unfunny since he ALWAYS screams and starts flailing his arms around like a monkey at a 5 dollar dono that told him his hair is actual garbage. No Pyro, asking mods to pull someone's home address for the 25th time in a row when someone in chat says "Oldest Pyro Fan" at a barely developed fetus is NOT funny.
I am not trying to downplay the effect we as his audience have had on him. We constantly bully and mess with Pyro, making unfunny jokes about his hair and his chin, something that has made Pyro think that he needs to scream like a react Andy at every donation that "attacks" any part of his personality. It is a cashgrab of the worst kind (the kind of cashgrab we as his audience are a part of) and it has hindered his video's quality greatly.
Also, him reusing topics for the second channel and straight up reacting to SunnyV2 on the Third Channel (Le Ultimate Slop Live) just shows that he does not fucking care wether his content is interesting or not. He is becoming a C-tier British Moistcritikal imitation without all the ironic humor that makes Charlie enjoyable to watch. The absolute lack of self awareness when confronted with the lack of research in the Fallout video and the absolute dogshit points he makes in said video is revolting. Him making a 40 minute video about the Kendrick and Drake beef whilst admitting he knows dogshit about any of the singers involved in said beef (and making wonderful comments like "Metro's Booming") is one of many examples of Pyro milking the content cow dry. I honestly believe Pyro has said Neon and Adin Ross's names in the past months more than his own parent's name's during his entire life.
In conclusion, what used to be a great channel dedicated to passionate videos has now devolved into a 3 way channel content beast, creating video after video of baseless critique and commentary. There is still hope that Pyro might change for the good, prioritizing the main channel videos instead of the slop of the Second Channel, but seeing at the direction his channel is moving it doesn't seem likely.
Ironically, we might be seeing MoistCritikal or Ludwig reacting to a SunnyV2 video on "The Fall of Pyrocinical" in just a few years.

"Lt. Commander Gen Rhys proves himself as Acting Captain, successfully leading the USS Discovery against the Breen. Discovery pays off Rhys' increasing importance as a member of the bridge crew. [...] Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 3, "Jinaal" revealed that Gen Rhys is a "ship-head" who loves 23rd century Constitution Class starships. Star Trek: Discovery continues to build up strong homegrown Captains, and Rhys shows he is a future leader.
[...]
Sar Trek: Discovery season 5 established that Starfleet's next great starship Captain is Lt. Commander Gen Rhys (Patrick Kwok-Choon). [...]
Lt. Commander Gen Rhys was excellent as Acting Captain of the USS Discovery in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 8, "Labyrinths". Rhys followed his orders to keep Discovery safe from the Breen, with the challenge of being unable to cloak in the Badlands. Rhys gambled that the Badlands' plasma energies would scramble the Breen's sensors, and he ordered the USS Discovery into the storms. With Rhys in command, Discovery weathered the Badlands and successfully rescued Captain Burnham, Commander Rayner, and the away team, beaming them and the final Progenitors' clue safely aboard the ship.
Rhys proving his mettle as a starship Captain pays off his increasing importance in Star Trek: Discovery season 5. Rhys was spotlighted in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, "Face the Strange" when his younger self joined Specialist Michael Burnham to confront Commander Rayner and Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) during the episode's time travel to the 23rd century. Rhys is a standout among the USS Discovery's bridge crew, and his performance in "Labyrinths" shows Gen is on track to become Captain of his own starship one day.
[...]
A revolving Captain's chair was a hallmark of Star Trek: Discovery's first few seasons, but the series was building up two great homegrown Captains. The first great Captain Star Trek: Discovery made was Saru (Doug Jones). The first Kelpien in Starfleet, Saru distinguished himself as First Officer and Acting Captain before he was formally promoted to the USS Discovery's center seat. Of course, Star Trek: Discovery is the story of Michael Burnham earning the Captain's chair, and "Labyrinths" delved into Burnham's inner fears of not being good enough and questioning who she is if she's not pursuing missions as Discovery's Captain.
It's actually curious that Captain Burnham didn't immediately consider Lt. Commander Gen Rhys to be the USS Discovery's new First Officer before selecting Commander Rayner. Rhys is clearly ready to move up the command track and become a Number One. [...]"
John Orquiola
Link (ScreenRant):
https://screenrant.com/star-trek-discovery-gen-rhys-next-great-captain/

Srry for the long post but if your genuinely looking for a long-term friendship with someone with similar interests as you then keep on reading and let's find out if we connect also am from California.
Am a pretty chill person, very kind and caring and depending how our bond I can be loving ʕ⁠っ⁠•⁠ᴥ⁠•⁠ʔ⁠っ(phonetically ofc). Also part of my personality is pretty childish so am sometimes silly and werid or do something childish. I enjoy chatting with ppl and dont mind if you come to me to rant or got a problem you need help with, ill try my best. 3 ppl I know would describe me as a Golden Retriever😭 but I look it up and doesn't seem too bad of a thing to be called so thats fine by me. Oh! Also am pretty much an open book so ask me anything I'll likely don't mind answering or talking about the topic. Also I like joking around a lot so make sarcastic jokes or be mean but don't actually mean it but if you don't like that then no worries just let me know and I won't do it. I also don't drink or do drugs(Ik ik, am boring lol) am also the oldest sibling and I have two lil sisters.
I love gaming(PC/PS4) mainly on my PC. I enjoy watching shows/movies, am a big fan of Anime and Star wars the clone wars. One of my favorite animes is Horimiya. I have a collection of star wars, anime and fallout stuff. I enjoy cuddling my doggo. I got accepted to work at a hospital as a nurse assistant so am excited to work there soon. I got a best bud from the UK shes amzing and we love each other to death (phonetically ofc) we only talk for a short time and we hit it off great. she's gonna visit me in a few months so that gonna be a lot of fun^{^} and I have known her for almsot 3 years now(1st ever online friendship to make it pass one year). But she gets busy time to time which is why am here to have another friendship like that or similar, a strong bond right off the bat. Tho I have noticed I tend to get along with females more ig cuz I grew up with a lot of them cuz a lot of my cousins are girls and ofc grew up with my two sisters. So I suppose shaped the way I am and more comfortable expressing myself with them. But anyways any are welcome to text me tho^{^}
That's about everything honestly or at least what I can think of in top of head. So if you have similar interests or really think we will hit it off and become good friends then shoot, go ahead DM me. tho preferably 18-25 so around my age and have at least few interests like gaming and anime would be nice but if you still think it will still work and become buds then cool. Am 20M in case it wasn't obvious that I was male lol so am not female so don't be werid I am looking at u werdios. Cuz I already have had a few texts thinking I was lol jerk.

With the surge in Star Trek shows and movies, the question comes up, why isn't Star Trek Online taking advantage of the uptick in Star Trek popularity?
Very little to none advertisement is every seen throughout TV or the internet. STO is missing out on a lot of opportunities here.

“Ready?” Ersatz asked. It was a politeness on his part. The timing window was very, very narrow, and he wasn’t going to wait for my permission to launch.
“To travel untethered across the dark depths of space?” I asked back.
“Don’t be a baby,” he said. And then he reached out and grabbed my arm.
I learned at the planning meeting how human teleportation works. There are, apparently, layers to the universe. Tiers ‘like a wedding cake.’ Momentum and position are carried between layers. Everything else, not so much.
In the layer I was at before, there was a spin station, with a floor to keep me in place. In the layer we moved to, there was nothing. Just endless eons of empty, starlit sky. No ship, no air, and no floor to press against.
It was like being cast out of a sling. The circular trajectory became straight. In theory, I knew that I was traveling at an incredible rate of speed. In practice, there was nothing I could judge my distance from, save the humans gathered around me.
“What if we miss?” I asked. I knew the answer, but I hoped, vainly, that they’d say something comforting.
Then we’ll die, came Pride’s response, twisted by the hiss of transistors. But at least the view will be beautiful.
We did not die.
One moment, we were sitting in the frozen void. Order gave the countdown - five, to zero - then Pride activated the crash pad and we jaunted back into the layer we started at.
A serene backdrop of stars was replaced with the roar of wind and a hall that stretched for what felt like miles. We must have cleared the entire length in seconds.
The sound was all I could experience at first, wrapped up in the crash pad as I was. Dull thuds against the pad indicated collisions. The roar of wind eventually muffled, giving way to new clues about the environment. Tinny music whistled from nearby speakers. Quiet groans could be heard, both inside and outside the pad. Pride’s voice was the first clear sound I heard, inside the cocoon of foam.
“Good God Viv, do you sharpen your elbows with a whetstone? How can anyone be so damn pointy?”
“Practice,” she said. Light trickled in as something cut the foam open. I turned towards it, expecting to see someone with a knife. Instead, I got a faceful of plastic as Order coughed the last of the bits of gnawed cushion up. He’d resorted to gnawing his way through almost immediately. I almost wondered if he started before we even jaunted.
He pushed himself through the gap first. He’d made the exit, so it was his right to leave before anyone else. I was nearest, so I followed behind. The halls of the spin station should have prepared me more for the realm of the burger clown, but I still found myself flabbergasted by how humans choose to decorate things.
Murals lined the full length of the halls, only slightly vandalized by the trail of destruction we left from our decel. There was a story to them, but only just. Scenes of a burglar and a purple oozing mutant, charmingly sharing burgers and fries, were interspersed with scenes of intense violence. There, a chicken-woman was eating nuggets. Just ahead, a man with white skin and red lips was taking a crown off a severed head. One wall showed a child eating fries covered in ketchup. Directly across from it, the Pale Man bit a severed finger, micking the child’s glee. The burglar dominated the dozen yards of wall beyond nightmare, having merry adventures stealing, eating, and redistributing burgers. It ended abruptly as the Pale Man returned, wearing his stolen crown, and sentenced him to ‘death by lingchi.’
The remaining set of halls were very graphic images of the burglar being forced through a fry-cutter.
I turned around, mostly to see the story of the murals continue. I’d forgotten about the moaning outside the crash foam.
Scattered across the hall in piles of broken and shattered bone lay dull imitations of the Pale Man. His acolytes and priests. Bone white skin, blood red lips, and hatred were the only traits they shared. One crawled towards me, legs trailing uselessly behind it, lips opening and closing wordlessly. I’d probably have stared in horror until it actually got up to me, except that Order finally seemed to have regained his bearings.
I didn’t see him until he was already past me, flying through the air with all the grace of a bird of a prey. Humans had shorter arms than my people, but their legs were powerful. The arc of his fall ended with both feet slamming into the back of the crawler’s neck. Bone snapped and the horror finally, blessedly, went still.
Order looked at me, eyes blazing, and said aloud what the thing had been wording.
“I’m lovin’ it.”
I think I forgot to breathe until Ersatz and Pride both managed to squeeze their way out of the foam. Viv breached a new way through, courtesy of her pointy elbows, and together, we traveled into the unspeakable hell of the burger clown’s ship.
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Last Thursday, the 89th issue of The End’s weekly newsletter went to thousands of inboxes around the world, letting subscribers know what audio fiction shows—full-cast audiodramas and more—recently reached the conclusion of the series, a season finale, or have a new season starting soon.
Here’s a rundown of just the dramatized audio fiction stories that were a part of that, with more details behind each link:

Featured Recommendations

I've listened to every episode of these shows, and proudly recommend them to you. As with all things in life, YMMV.
Supreme: The Battle for Roe • ⚖️👩‍⚖️👨‍⚖️ Dramatized political thriller from Aaron Tracy, Kelly & Kelly, and iHeart. Nominated for a 2024 Ambies Award for Best Fiction Podcast. All episodes available as of 16 Aug 2023. Listen to all 9 episodes in 5h 28m.
Dark Sanctum • 😨😱🫨 Dramatized horror thriller from Mark Ramsey Media LLC & Realm. Audio is one of the stars of the series. It is fundamental to the choice of stories and the way the stories unfold. Final episode of Season 1 posted on 1 Mar 2023. Listen to the 7 current episodes in 2h 29m. Next season: Slated for Mar 2024.

Featured Collections

Check out these collections to find your next finished audio fiction fix!
Time Travel-ish • Current title count in this collection: 21
Wormholes, police boxes, ancient tomes, and other explorations of jumping around in time.
Work Sucks, We Know • Current title count in this collection: 12
Tales of the grind, making the bacon, office romance, and generally celebrating(?) capitalism, baby!

This Week's Season Finales

The Mysteries of Derlin County • 😳😂😳 Dramatized comedy parody series from K&B. Designed and created to be immature and stupid, specifically to shut your brain down and make you laugh to get through a hard day. It's loaded with dry, morbid, and crude humor, and listener discretion is advised. Final episode of Season 8 posted on 16 May 2024. Listen to the 126 current episodes in 54h 51m. Next season: Unknown.
The Flight of the Bucket • 🚀🪐👩‍🚀 Dramatized scifi comedy series from Adam Arthur, Troy Burnette, and Superhappy Productions. Final episode of Season 1 posted on 13 May 2024. Listen to the 10 current episodes in 3h 48m. Next season: Slated for Nov 2024.

Returning With New Seasons Next Week

Season 3 of Creation: A Whole New Reality, a dramatized scifi horror anthology from Mikaila Simone Mack, starts on 17 May 2024. Catch up with the current 20 episodes in 6h 21m. 🌚🌠👽
Season 2 of The BEAM Chronicles, a dramatized scifi superhero series from MJ Dooney, starts on 18 May 2024. Catch up with the current 25 episodes in 12h 35m. 💥☠️⚖️
Season 2 of Remote, a dramatized parapsychological psych-fi thriller from Matthew Heinze and Hertz Up, starts on 21 May 2024. Catch up with the current 8 episodes in 2h 29m. 😵‍💫😯🤔

Just Added

Saratoga Lights • 🕯️🤠💀 Dramatized supernatural western crime thriller series from Randall LaRue, Matthew David Rudd, and Dual Tape Deck. Final episode of Season 2 posted on 11 Dec 2023. Listen to the 20 current episodes in 5h 17m. Next season: Slated for Oct 2024.
Joys and Splendors • 😲❄️🚁 Dramatized spy thriller series from Kate Werneburg, Winterbird, and TACTICS Theatre Group. Created and produced by women and LGBTQ people. All episodes available as of 18 Nov 2023. Listen to all 3 episodes in 1h 52m.
Tobias and Syd • 😲🚬💗 Dramatized time travel romance series from Elspeth Penny & 2BU Productions. Wins! 3rd in the Audio Fiction World Cup 2023 and the top UK podcast! Winner Best Audio Fiction Standalone, Sydney Webfest 2023, Winner Best Audio Fiction Standalone Apulia Web fest 2023; Winner Best Narration Baltimore Next Media Fest... Ell Potter. This one is weird. Like a fevered dream from smoking too much tobacco. Or something else. But it sounds incredible! All 4 episodes of this limited series are available as of 20 Jan 2023 for a listening time of 1h 08m.
Almelem • 📜🎭🕰️ Dramatized historical fiction series from Sean Williams & Gideon Media. This show spends time looking at the female and non-binary characters that have been left out of the early church mythology. All episodes available as of 15 Dec 2022. Listen to all 5 episodes in 2h 38m.
The Other Path • 🧙‍♀️👹🌳 Dramatized fantasy and folklore stories from Laurie Steven & Odyssey Theatre. Five audio dramas are inspired by fantastical tales from the past, but set in today’s modern world. Written by award-winning Canadian writers, each episode comes alive with the voices of professional actors and artfully crafted music and sound. All 5 episodes of this limited series are available as of 30 Nov 2022 for a listening time of 3h 17m.
Check out the 89th issue for links to listen, descriptions, artwork, and more at https://www.theend.fyi/newslettealmost-halfway-to-better-finished-audio-fiction
That’s it from The End for this week. See you next Sunday!

me personally i love: the coon, butters bottom bitch, the black friday trilogy, medicinal fried chicken. plz give more south park episodes to watch. i feel like this show has some average episodes, and than some GREAT episodes. i need more of the 10/10 episodes. do they ever do a star wars parody?